Internal combustion engines, such as multi-cylinder diesel or gasoline engines, typically include a cylinder block defining a plurality of cylinder bores which reciprocally carry respective pistons therein. Each cylinder bore may include a cylinder liner in which the piston actually reciprocates. Cylinder liners allow a cylinder block with a particular cylinder bore configuration and size to be used with multiple different diameter pistons by simply changing the cylinder liners for a particularly configured engine. Moreover, the cylinder liners may be removed and replaced if worn through use over time. Additionally, an internal combustion engine for use as a diesel engine may require a cylinder liner which is configured differently from an internal combustion engine used as a gasoline engine.
It is known to provide an internal combustion engine with a coolant sleeve which is positioned radially around a cylinder liner. Liquid coolant such as antifreeze flows through an annular channel defined between the cylinder liner and cylinder bore, around and/or through the coolant sleeve, and then to further passageways or channels in the cylinder block and/or cylinder head. Examples of coolant sleeves used with internal combustion engines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,150,668 (Bock) and 3,481,316 (Olson et al.), each of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Although effective for certain configured engines, coolant sleeves as described above may not be effective for use with other internal combustion engines, dependent upon the specific configuration of the internal combustion engine.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.